For Catapult, I wrote an essay about teaching my daughter to tell time, geologic timescales, parenting memes, temporary tattoos, and the Climate Clock.
“Geologists may speak of epochs, yet parenting has so contracted the timescales by which I measure life that I speak of it in much smaller increments. It’s hard to hold in mind the immensity of planetary history when the demands of the present feel so immediate and overwhelming, and thinking about the uncertain future my children face is almost more than I can bear.”
This essay is the first installment of my column, Mother of All Messes, on the work of parenting in the climate crisis. I’m so, so grateful to be working with the incredible Tajja Isen to publish this column with Catapult. It’s truly been a dream.